Keyword Metatags and Keyword-Triggered Ads Don’t Create Initial Interest Confusion–Designer Skin v. S&L Vitamins
By Eric Goldman Designer Skin, LLC v. S & L Vitamins, Inc., 2008 WL 2116646 (D. Ariz. May 20, 2008) An Arizona district court has ruled that the surreptitious use of trademarks doesn’t create a likelihood of initial interest confusion,…
Adwords Ad Creates Initial Interest Confusion–Storus v. Aroa
By Eric Goldman Storus Corp. v. Aroa Marketing Inc., 2008 WL 449835 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 15, 2008). (Sorry for my delay blogging this one). A federal district court has held that displaying a competitor’s trademark in Adwords ad copy constitutes…
eBay Denied 230 Defense for Its Marketing Representations–Mazur v. eBay
By Eric Goldman Mazur v. eBay Inc., 2008 WL 618988 (N.D. Cal. March 4, 2008) I declared Monday “47 USC 230 Day” here at the Technology & Marketing Law Blog, but with this new case, I’m declaring it 47 USC…
Iowa Offers Tax Breaks to “Web Search Portal Businesses”
By Eric Goldman Iowa, showing its technological savvy, has passed a law providing some tax abatements for “web search portal businesses” that invest $200M in the state in 6 years. See HF 2233, enacted Feb. 28, 2008. Most industry participants…
Feb. 2008 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Advertising * BusinessWeek: Monetizing social networking sites isn’t as easy as everyone had hoped, clickthrough rates are through the floor (0.04%!), and ad proliferation on the sites is driving users away. * Wilbur, Kenneth C. and Zhu,…
Classic Article on “Cybermediaries”
By Eric Goldman Mitra B. Sarkar et al., Intermediaries and Cybermediaries: A Continuing Role for Mediating Players in the Electronic Marketplace, J. COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATIONS, 1995 I’ve been working on my Brand Spillovers paper, which in part addresses the trademark…
Oct.-Nov. 2007 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Marketing/Branding * To stimulate demand for its services, the British postal service is pointing out that snail mail is a good way to use olfactory marketing. Try to keep up with THAT, spammers! But doesn’t this give…
Internet Doctor Gets Extra Jail Time for Using Website–US v. Hanny
By Eric Goldman U.S. v. Hanny, 2007 WL 4322265 (8th Cir. Dec. 12, 2007) Given its blatant illegality, I’m a little surprised that we don’t hear more about busts of companies and individuals selling prescription drugs over the Internet. I…
Yale Reputation Economies Symposium Recap
By Eric Goldman Reputation is a hot topic in Cyberlaw circles, so the Yale ISP conference on Reputation Economies in Cyberspace came at a propitious time. Some of my meta-observations from the talks. 1) We lack a uniformly accepted definition…
eBay Sued for Failing to Take Down Listings–Hansson v. Brower
By Eric Goldman Hansson Inc. v. Brower, 4:07-cv-05898-CW (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Nov. 21, 2007) In my Cyberspace Law course, I teach students that they should not just consider the liability of the person who committed the allegedly tortious behavior,…